Ergon Energy will cut jobs: union

Peter Simpson: Ergon Energy have been busily plotting a new structure.

THE Electrical Trades Union has launched a campaign against Ergon Energy, which it claims has a "secret plan to outsource huge parcels of capital works to external contractors".

State secretary Peter Simpson said the plans threatened jobs in regions like Mackay.

"The leaked Ergon document shows us that Ergon Energy have been busily plotting a new structure, behind the backs of our members," he said.

"Senior Ergon managers have always had the desire to set up permanent outsourcing of our Ergon memberships' core work."

Mr Simpson said Ergon Energy had consistently stated it was nowhere near the consultation phase of a proposal to set up a major projects group.

The ETU had written to Labor and the LNP demanding they commit to stopping Ergon Energy from rolling out the plan, which would kill off many regional jobs and undermine the job security of their internal staff, he said.

The union's campaign is likely to involve Federal Court action as well as industrial action.

An Ergon Energy spokesman said the major projects group was an internal initiative designed to meet a current and forecast ongoing increase in demand for major electrical infrastructure capital works in regional Queensland.

"Ergon Energy has been outsourcing approximately 30%-40% of major capital works for some years now - there has been no change in Ergon's policy on this," he said.

"In the Australian regulatory environment, major customers wishing to initiate capital works are entitled to build them themselves - they don't have to use Ergon Energy."